“That’s a very real possibility,” Schneider said. “That’s why we’ve chosen not to go this direction yet and the hope is that the owners understand, too. They’ve got an awful lot from us and to not worry about losing another season, it doesn’t make a lot of sense from either end.”

The Canucks netminder emphasized how serious it would be to take that big step.

“Decertification is not something you do half-heartedly,” Schneider said. “Once the wheels are in motion, there’s no stopping. It’s a very serious decision and that’s why we’re a little reluctant to charge ahead without thinking.”

Even with such a balanced approach, Schneider still expressed some of the players’ misgivings toward the other side.

“Nobody trusts anything they [owners] do,” Schneider said. “We could agree to their number on make-whole [transition] and they would still say it’s $100 million or no money or because you agree to that, we’re going to give less.”